NYC - Civil Service Exam Civil Service Logical Reasoning 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A team of 5 clerks — Adams, Bell, Chen, Davis, and Evans — must be split into Group 1 (3 clerks) and Group 2 (2 clerks). Adams and Davis cannot be in the same group. Chen must be in Group 1. If Bell is placed in Group 2, which of the following must be true?
- Adams is in Group 1
- Evans is in Group 1 (Correct answer)
- Davis is in Group 1
- Evans is in Group 2
Correct answer: Evans is in Group 1
Group 2 has only 2 slots: Bell plus one more. Since Adams and Davis cannot share a group, exactly one of them fills that second Group 2 slot. That leaves no room for Evans in Group 2, so Evans must be in Group 1 regardless of which of Adams or Davis joins Bell.
Question 2: Study the pattern: 2, 5, 11, 23, ___. What is the next number?
- 44
- 47 (Correct answer)
- 46
- 35
Correct answer: 47
Each term is the previous term multiplied by 2, then increased by 1: 2×2+1=5, 5×2+1=11, 11×2+1=23, 23×2+1=47. The rule is consistent throughout the sequence.
Question 3: All city employees must complete annual ethics training. Sandra is a city employee. Which conclusion is most valid?
- Sandra has already completed ethics training this year
- Sandra must complete annual ethics training (Correct answer)
- Sandra is exempt if she passed the training last year
- Sandra only needs ethics training if her supervisor requires it
Correct answer: Sandra must complete annual ethics training
The first statement applies universally to all city employees, and Sandra belongs to that group. Therefore she must complete the training. Option A goes further than the evidence allows — we know she must complete it, not that she already has.
Question 4: A records clerk is filing documents alphabetically by department name. Which of the following sequences is correctly ordered?
- Administration, Building, Community, Finance (Correct answer)
- Building, Administration, Finance, Community
- Community, Administration, Building, Finance
- Finance, Community, Building, Administration
Correct answer: Administration, Building, Community, Finance
Alphabetical order follows A before B before C before F. 'Administration' (A), 'Building' (B), 'Community' (C), 'Finance' (F) proceeds correctly through the alphabet with no items out of place.
Question 5: If a civil service applicant scores above 70, they advance to the interview stage. If they score above 85, they also receive a merit bonus. Carlos scored 82. Which of the following is true?
- Carlos advances to the interview and receives a merit bonus
- Carlos does not advance to the interview
- Carlos advances to the interview but does not receive a merit bonus (Correct answer)
- Carlos receives a merit bonus but does not advance to the interview
Correct answer: Carlos advances to the interview but does not receive a merit bonus
82 is above 70, so Carlos qualifies for the interview stage. However, 82 is not above 85, so the merit bonus condition is not met. Both conditions must be evaluated independently.
Question 6: Four employees are ranked by seniority. Wang has more seniority than Peters. Peters has more seniority than Quinn. Rivera has less seniority than Quinn. What is Rivera's seniority rank?
- First
- Second
- Third
- Fourth (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Fourth
Chaining the comparisons gives the order Wang > Peters > Quinn > Rivera. Wang holds first rank, Peters second, Quinn third, and Rivera last — fourth. Rivera is junior to all three other employees.
NYC - Civil Service Exam Civil Service Logical Reasoning 1
A team of 5 clerks — Adams, Bell, Chen, Davis, and Evans — must be split into Group 1 (3 clerks) and Group 2 (2 clerks).
Adams and Davis cannot be in the same group.
Chen must be in Group 1.
If Bell is placed in Group 2, which of the following must be true?